Galactic Civil War
The Galactic Civil War was a galactic power struggle in which the Galactic Empire sought to maintain its hold over the Galaxy in the face of a rebellion waged by the Alliance to Restore the Republic. The conflict unofficially began when Sentors Bail Organa, Mon Mothma and Garm Bel Iblis met in a serious of meetings in the Corellian System, representing resistance groups from Chandrila, Alderaan and Corellia who all agreed to sign the Corellian Treaty. The Corellian Treaty promptly led to the ratification of the Declaration of Rebellion. When Mon Mothma gave a speech explaining her resignation from the Imperial Senate from above Dantooine, the creation of the Alliance to Restore the Republic was official. A series of follow-up attacks by the Alliance left the Empire reeling from the Alliance's advances. As a result, the Empire pursued the Alliance across the galaxy, led by Darth Vader. In the year 4 ABY, the Emperor allowed the Alliance to learn of the existence of a second Death Star as part of a trap to lure the Alliance to its destruction. The Alliance, believing that they were launching a surprise attack, launched a fleet to Endor. During the ensuing battle, Luke Skywalker, who had learned that Vader was his father, confronted the Dark Lord in a final lightsaber duel aboard the Death Star. The Emperor attempted to kill Skywalker, but out of compassion for him, Vader threw the Emperor down a reactor shaft. Vader would die from his injuries from the battle, bringing an end to the Sith's rule over the galaxy. Meanwhile, The Alliance, destroyed the second Death Star, leaving the Empire fractured and an era of warlordism arose. As a result of the power vacuum left in the wake of the Emperor's death, Imperial Moffs and other leaders began to fight for power. One year later, the Empire fought the New Republic, the democratic government established by the Rebel Alliance, in a final battle over the desert world of Jakku. However, the Imperial unit led by Counselor Gallius Rax was defeated, and, facing severe internal unrest, the Empire, under Grand Vizier Mas Amedda, surrendered to the Republic. On Chandrila, the Empire signed the Galactic Concordance with the Republic, officially ending the conflict and severely limiting the Empire's military capabilities, effectively transforming the Empire into a rump state as it was gradually decentralized. History Prelude Declaration of the New Order After a three-year-long, pan-galactic conflict with the Confederacy of Independent Systems, the Galactic Republic emerged the victors from the Clone Wars. Supreme Chancellor Palpatine ensured his own rise as the Senate constantly increased his powers, suspending his term limits and allowing him greater control over both the military and the Republic. By the end of the war, his powers had almost become limitless and his relationship with the Jedi Council had deteriorated to such an extent that they had begun to consider removing him from power in the event he refused to return his emergency powers to the Senate. When Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker learned of Palpatine's true identity as Darth Sidious and alert Jedi Master Windu to it they attempted to arrest him. However, their attempt failed when Skywalker betrayed them and pledged his allegiance to Sidious as his new apprentice, Darth Vader. Sidious initiated the culmination of the Sith's long plan to eliminate both the Jedi and the Republic, ordering the clone troopers to execute their Jedi commanders while Vader led Operation Knightfall, a raid on the Jedi Temple. With his Jedi enemies eliminated, the Republic and its military apparatus under his control, Sidious declared himself Emperor and announced the Republic's reorganization into the Galactic Empire. The remnants of the Old Republic Although he intended to use his Empire to seize unlimited power, this was merely a play to prevent his enemies from gathering enough strength to openly oppose him. As such, he reorganized the former Galactic Senate of the former Republic into the new Imperial Senate. Although this new body did not possess as much power as its predecessor, it did retain the ability to pass legislation. Most Senators refrained from engaging in direct criticism of the Emperor and the Empire as it grew stronger, but the Senate soon became divided between followers of the New Order and those who still wished for a return to democracy. Most prominent among the Emperor's silent opposition were former members of the Loyalist Committee, such as Bail Organa of Alderaan and Mon Mothma of Chandrila, who hoped that they could make a difference from the inside, but to no avail. Nevertheless, they came to hold enough weight in the Senate to influence the Empire's decisions, as the new regime's higher-levels constantly feared a potential uprising. Chief among their achievements, the Senators limited the influence of the new Imperial Military by outlawing forced conscriptions of stormtroopers and preventing beings from being sold into slavery. In addition to their official activities as part of the Imperial Senate, Organa, Mothma and their allies also began undertaking covert operations with the goal of eventually mounting direct opposition to the Empire. Their goals were not originally to organize a rebellion or any form of armed opposition against the Emperor; they sought to find and recruit groups and individuals who opposed the New Order and unite them towards a common goal: the restoration of the Republic and an end to the Empire's tyranny. However, as the movement grew and the Empires actions worsened, this growing movement began to entertain the notion that armed resistance would be the only way to restore the Republic. The Empire's High Command was aware of the Senate's efforts to impede its long-term plans and its moves to protect rebel sympathizers from scrutiny. However, although they suspected rebellion, they could not prove it and in the years following the Proclamation of the New Order, the Senators still wielded enough power to be protected. The lost Jedi Order 66 and the subsequent declaration of the Jedi as traitors by Emperor Palpatine led to the near destruction of the Jedi Order. Several more Jedi were hunted down by the Empire and Darth Vader. However, Jedi Masters Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi, who had both survived the clones attempts to kill them, were able to infiltrate the Temple and alter the code to save what Jedi they could. Few in numbers spread across a galaxy that had turned on them and hunted by the Empire's agents, the surviving Jedi charted different courses. Some, such as Yoda and Kenobi, hid until such a time as they were ready to emerge and defeat the Sith. Others, such as Bastilla Ann took on different lives setting aside their Jedi ways to avoid detection, and moving on whenever their identity was at risk of being discovered. Growing tensions Despite their attempts to suppress rebel activity, the Empire's greatest fear was growing larger, as various Rebel groups were uniting to oppose them. The Alliance to Restore the Republic was formally founded in 2 BBY following the Skirmish in the Archeon Nebula. Various battles broke out between the Rebels and the Galactic Empire prior to this unification. In 0 BBY, nineteen years after the Empire's formation, the Alliance discovered information on a previously unknown Imperial project, the Death Star. Following the Destruction of Jedha City, Alliance High Command was afraid of having the Rebellion plunge into open war after their Attack on Lothal in 1 BBY resulted in a total failure and a loss of an entire starfighter squadron. The Death Star The Battle of Scarif A team of soldiers of the Alliance, Scarif and got three infiltrators inside the facility. The Alliance back on Yavin IV heard of this and Admiral Raddus rushed in with a large chunk of the Alliance Fleet to assist. The infiltrators managed to get the plans, losing only one member, the Profundity, the flagship of Admiral Raddus. The plans would make it to the flagship but as the fleet attempted to escape, Imperial I-class Star Destroyer Devastator jumped out of hyperspace and prevented many from escaping. The Profundity was disabled and the rest of the fleet was in complete disarray. Inside the profundity, rebel troopers managed to download the plans onto a data tape and transferred them to Princess Leia Organa aboard the Tantive IV, which was docked inside the Profundity, before the Empire could intercept it. The vessel escaped and jumped into hyperspace. Although the team was successful in their mission, they died completing their objective as the Battle of Scarif ended with the destruction of the surface of the planet from the Death Star. Secret mission to Tatooine Racing towards the desert planet of Tatooine aboard the Tantive IV ''with the Death Star plans in hand, Organa was hoping to enlist the help of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. However, Darth Vader was able to intercept and capture the ship in a space battle over the planet. Vader's forces boarded Organa's ship, forcing her to hide the plans of the Death Star, along with a message to Kenobi, in the memory banks of the R2 series astromech droid, R2-D2 who along with protocol C-3PO would escape down to the surface of the planet. The two droids would eventually end up in the hands of Luke Skywalker. While Skywalker was cleaning the droids, he stumbled upon part of the message in R2-D2 and became interested. However, R2-D2, operating under the programming that he was the property of Obi-Wan Kenobi, escaped and tried to find Kenobi. Skywalker chased after R2 in the morning and met up with Kenobi and the droid. R2-D2 then played for the message Kenobi and Skywalker Organa's desperate plea for help. The two soon discovered that Imperial stormtroopers had attacked the Jawas who had sold Skywalker and his uncle the two droids in a vain search for the death star plans. Skywalker raced back his family moisture farm to find his home burned and his aunt and uncle killed. He then accompanied Kenobi to Mos Eisley, where, after using subterfuge to get passed Imperial troops, the two negotiated with Captain Han Solo and his wookie first mate Chewbacca to take them, the droids and the Death Star plans to Alderaan aboard the ''Millennium Falcon. Emperor Palpatine used this conflict to his advantage and dissolved the Imperial Senate. Destruction of Alderaan While in Imperial custody, Organa was transferred to the Death Star where she was interrogated and tortured by Vader for the location of the Alliance's hidden base. When she refused to succumb to torture, Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin decided to get the information out of Organa another by way of threatening to destroy Alderaan, Organa's homeworld. Fearing the loss of Alderaan, but not wanting to give up the Alliance's location, Organa lied to Tarkin and declared that the Alliance was located on the planet of Dantooine. Tarkin, confident in his victory, continued with the operation to destroy Alderaan regardless, stating that Dantooine was "too remote" for an effective demonstration of the Death Star's abilities. Thus, Alderaan was destroyed from a single blast from the Death Star, an event that killed billions and showed the true might and terror of the Empire. Alderaan vigil rioting Rioting took place after the destruction of the planet Alderaan by the Empire. Rumors of what happening began reaching the Alderaanian population on Coruscant. The rioting lasted for several days until the security forces and stormtroopers were sent in to restore order. As the troops marched into the streets, the stormtroopers opened fire into the crowds, dispersing them. The following day, the police arrested anyone caught out in the streets. The day after that, stormtroopers began taking Alderaanians in for questioning. Rescue of Princess Leia Following Alderaan's destruction, Tarkin sent a scout team to Dantooine to ascertain whether or not there was indeed a Rebel base there. Meanwhile, the Millennium Falcon had arrived out of hyperspace to find out that Alderaan had been destroyed. Fearing that they would be identified by a lone TIE fighter, they attempted to shoot it down but not before being trapped aboard the Death Star by a tractor beam. After sneaking off their ship and out of the hanger bay, Skywalker sought out to rescue Organa while Kenobi went alone to disable one of the several tractor beam generators on the station and confront Darth Vader. When Tarkin learned that Organa has deceived him and that there was a rebel base on Dantooine but had long since been abandoned, Tarkin ordered her termination. But before the order could be carried through, she was rescued by Skywalker. As Skywalker, Solo, Organa, and Chewbacca finally made it to the hangar to escape aboard the Falcon, Skywalker watched as Kenobi faced off against his former Padawan, Darth Vader. Kenobi let down his guard, allowing himself to be struck down by Vader's lightsaber and becoming one with the Force. The Battle of Yavin The Millennium Falcon soon managed to escape afterward, but it was all for naught, as it was all a ploy devised by Tarkin who had ordered a homing beacon placed onboard the Falcon that led the Empire straight to the Alliance hidden base on Yavin IV. In the Great Temple, The Alliance was able to analyze the technical readouts and come up with an attack plan on the Death Star, called for starfighters to fly down the Death Star's trench and follow it to where a thermal exhaust port laid and fire a proton torpedo into an exhaust port where it would then be able to reach the Death Star's main reactor and set off a chain reaction, thus destroying the battle station. As the Death Star was entering into range to fire its super laser, Rebel fighters took off in a desperate attempt to destroy the battle station. In the ensuing battle, the pilots of the Rebel Alliance faced off against Imperial starfighters and turbolasers while also trying to make attack runs on the exhaust port. Having underestimated the Alliance chances, Tarkin refused to send out more reinforcements to deal with the rebel starfighters. He also ignored an officer's warnings of the threat to the exhaust port and continued with his assault upon Yavin IV. Rebel pilots continued to be destroyed one-by-one by Darth Vader and other Imperial pilots. Being nearly the last of the rebel assault force, Luke Skywalker, Biggs Darklighter, and Wedge Antilles made one final run on the exhaust port. Vader shot down and killed Darklighter and was also able to force Antilles to retreat, and was mere moments away from shooting down Skywalker before Han Solo entered the fight with the Millennium Falcon. Vader was driven out of the battle by Solo, giving Skywalker one final shot at the thermal port. The attack succeeded, and moments later the Death Star exploded, taking with it millions of Imperial lives, whilst saving the Alliance. Evacuation of Yavin IV After a key victory over the Empire and the Royal Award Ceremony, the Rebellion was forced to evacuate Yavin IV in order to find a new base of operations, as now the Imperials knew their location. Advancement and Retreat of the Mid Rim The Rebel Alliance, bolstered by their victory at Yavin, launched a military campaign into the Mid Rim. It was one of the largest operations the Rebel Alliance would conduct. After nine months, after the Alliance had fought on many worlds and established many bases, Rebel High Command decided the fleet was overextended and the campaign would maintain the defense of their captured territories. Not long after, the forces started a retreat and the battle companies evacuated their bases. Assault on Takodana The Rebellion had a base on the forest planet of Takodana one year after the Evacuation of Yavin IV. The Galactic Emprie attacked the base using stormtroopers, the Imperial Marines and a number of AT-ST walkers. The Empire's forces suffered heavy losses due to landmines, rebel tenacity and the arrival of the Aliit Voryk Mandalorians, but still prevailed, sabotaging X-Wing and A-Wing starfighters and destroying rebel evacuation transports. A number of rebels were captured, and many were executed. Battle of Hoth Following the Battle of Yavin, the Empire sent out thousands of probe droids across the galaxy to in an attempt to locate the Rebels' current base of operations. A probe launched from the Star Destroyer Stalker landed on the ice planet of Hoth, and sent back images of the Alliance's power generator to Darth Vader's fleet, Death Squadron. The Imperial Navy launched an assault on Hoth, although the Rebels became alerted to the incoming attack after Admiral Kendal Ozzel brought the fleet out of hyperspace too close to the Hoth system, giving the Alliance time to mount a defense and begin evacuation. Imperial dropships dropped AT-AT and AT-STs walkers of Blizzard Force on the ground to destroy the power generator, as it was powering a shield protecting the base. The AT-ATs were met with T-47 airspeeders flown by Corona and Rogue Squadrons slowing the walkers and taking out three of them including. Despite the large resistance from the two squadrons, the AT-ATs destroyed the shield generator and Vader and his troops entered the base. Inside the base, the Millennium Falcon ''would escape before Vader could board it and would escape the planet and attempt to evade the blockading star destroyers. '''Hunting Leia Organa' After the battle, Organa and Solo evaded the Imperial fleet on the Millennium Falcon ''and were forced to flee to Bespin to find Solo's friend Lando Calrissian. However, the bounty hunter Boba Fett tracked them, allowing the Empire to capture Organa and Solo using Calrissian as the bait. They then set a trap in order to capture Luke Skywalker by freezing Solo in carbonite. Skywalker came to rescue Organa and Solo and faced Vader where he learned of his true relation to him, but the Imperial forces found themselves betrayed by Calrissian and overwhelmed by Cloud City local authorities. Calrissian, Chewbacca, Organa, and Skywalker would escape to an Alliance flotilla, though Skywalker would lose his hand, and Solo was handed over to Fett for delivery to Jabba the Hutt. Bespin was taken over by the Empire. '''The Second Death Star' : "Many Bothans died to get us this information" : ―Mon Mothma mentioning the sacrifice the Bothans made for the Death Star II's location Over the last four years, the Empire had begun construction of a second Death Star, commonly known as Death Star II, over the forest moon of Endor and the Emperor decided to set a deliberate trap for the rebels. He allowed the Bothan spy net get hold of the plans, killing many of them in the process, but deceived them by not revealing that the super laser was operational. Saving Han Solo Sometime later, Organa and Skywalker launched a mission to recover Solo from Jabba the Hutt. They infiltrated the Hutt's palace separately, but Jabba refused to bargain and tried to kill Skywalker with a Rancor, although Organa managed to free Solo from the carbonite. When Skywalker managed to kill the beast, they were sentenced to an execution at the Great Pit of Carkoon but managed to escape again after a struggle with the Hutt's guards, in which Organa killed Jabba. The Battle of Endor Main article: Battle of Endor After Organa and the rest returned to the Rebel fleet above Sullest, Mothma and Ackbar briefed the fleet and soon launched into hyperspace for the battle at Endor. The Rebels sent a strike team led by Solo to take out the shield generator protecting the Empire's second Death Star. But the Emperor's trap was set in motion and the team was captured when storming the rear entrance of the base. As the Alliance fleet arrived, expecting to find the space station defenseless, the shield was still online and a large Imperial force trapped the Rebels. Solo's team had formed an alliance with an Ewok village, which freed them, allowing the Alliance to overrun and scatter the imperial forces destroy the shield. The Death Star II meanwhile was firing on Ackbar's cruisers, forcing them to engage Imperial Star Destroyers to stay out of range while Calrissian led fighters to destroy the station's reactor. Beforehand, Skywalker had surrendered to Vader and was brought before Palpatine. He and Vader dueled, but when Skywalker refused to turn to the dark side of the Force, Palpatine tried to kill him, awakening Anakin Skywalker within Vader and causing him to turn on and kill his master. Calrissian and Antilles got to the reactor and wreaked havoc before fleeing back through the large exhaust port of which they had entered through. The Alliance Fleet fled back to Endor as the death star exploded and some cruisers stayed at the wreckage to clear off any remaining imperial forces. Operation Cinder As the Rebel Alliance gained momentum, scattered Imperial forces across the galaxy including Captain Lerr Duvat and Admiral Garrick Versio received the Emperor's posthumous orders to implement Operation: Cinder; a contingency plan to scour loyal planets and several other worlds in order to throw the galaxy into chaos. The attacks would comprise of experimental Climate disruption array satellites which could create superstorms ravaging the targeted planet. This operation was ended during the Battle of Theed, where the satellites were destroyed by the Alliance. New Republic Main article: New Republic After the Battle of Endor, the Rebel Alliance set about rebuilding the Galactic Republic and promptly reorganized themselves into a government called the New Republic. The New Republic then broadcasted the defeat of the Empire across the galaxy, urging star systems to join them in eliminating the remnants of the Empire. The Alliance's leader Mon Mothma became the New Republic's first Chancellor. While her position still held the emergency powers granted by Palpatine during the Clone Wars, Mothma plan to abolish them and to reduce the New Republic military once victory over the Empire had been achieved. As news of the Empire's defeat began to spread throughout the galaxy, the Empire began to crumble as infighting among Imperial leaders became more frequent, and continued losses to the ever-growing Republic prevented them from becoming a single unified force. Several members of the Imperial Ruling Council took the opportunity to grab onto territory and tailed contradictory propaganda messages about the New Republic and the Emperor's survival. Battle of Jakku : "We're headed toward a large standoff with the rebels. We're committing a fair portion of the fleet, and if the damned Rebellion wants to stand a chance of keeping that sector, they'll have to do the same.." : ―Grand Moff Randd A New Republic fleet led by Admiral Ackbar entered the space around Jakku and engaged the Imperial fleet. At the same time the New Republic also deployed several ground forces to attack the main Imperial headquarters and an Imperial weapons facility. At first, the battle was in the Empire's favor. The Imperial fleet had formed a tight defensive formation around Rax's Super Star Destroyer, Ravager. This tight formation slowed the onslaught of the New Republic assault and allowed the Ravager to repeatedly bombard the New Republic fleet from the safety of its protective cordon. After the Star Destroyer Punishment broke formation and rammed the Starhawk-class battleship Amity in a kamikaze attack, Commodore Agate positioned her ship Concord in the gap and bombarded the Ravager. Despite being crippled by the Super Star Destroyer, Agate managed to use the Concord's powerful tractor beam to drag the larger ship to Jakku's surface. The New Republic ships and starfighters then disabled the Ravager's engines, ensuring it couldn't escape. After the Ravager's commander Grand Moff Randd fled, the battle turned in the New Republic's favor, and the battle was soon won. The Galactic Concordance The Battle of Jakku coincided with Grand Vizier Mas Amedda's escape from house arrest in the Imperial Palace. With the help of a group of child resistance fighters known as the Anklebiter Brigade, Amedda managed to flee to Chandrila and sign the Imperial Instruments of Surrender and the Galactic Concordance with Chancellor Mon Mothma. These agreements formalized the Empire's capitulation to the New Republic and ordered all Imperial forces to cease fighting. Despite the decisive defeat of the Imperial fleet above Jakku and the signing of the Galactic Concordance, Imperial forces continued fighting on Jakku's surface and parts of the galaxy for months on end. A month after the Battle of Jakku, the remaining Imperial forces were confined to pre-determined boundaries in the Core Worlds and Inner Rim. Under the terms of the Concordance, the defeated Empire was required to obey strict disarmament policies and pay war reparations, which the remnant in the Core and Inner Rim obeyed, confining themselves to the new set of borders. The Concordance also banned the recruitment and mobilization of stormtrooper forces, the abandonment of all Imperial Academies, ceded the former galactic capital Coruscant to the New Republic, and outlawed torture. While the New Republic turned its attention to reshaping the galactic order, the Empire withered away into a remnant of hardliners that eventually relocated to the Unknown Regions and became the First Order. Despite the end of the Galactic Civil War, the New Republic had to contend with new separatist factions. Category:Galactic Civil War Category:Galactic Empire Category:Imperial Remnants Category:Alliance to Restore the Republic Category:New Republic Category:War